Pregnant women advised to shoot for 39 weeks

When Shirley Wang was pregnant with her first child she had a lot of leg pain at 36 weeks, and her doctor asked her if she wanted to be induced early.

A tempting offer, but Shirley said no and waited to be induced at 39 weeks.

She delivered a healthy baby boy.

"One of the requests I had was a woman who had a zodiac specific date and time to deliver because it was a lucky time to benefit the child for life," says Dr. James Byrne.

Dr. Byrne says he's also had other pregnant patients ask to deliver early to attend business meetings.

He recommends women do their best to deliver at 39 weeks.

"The best reasons to wait are there is less risk of the child going to the ICU, it increases the odds of having a stronger baby, and women who deliver early have a higher risk of failure and a higher C-section rate," he says.

The March of Dimes is now asking hospitals to require physicians scheduling deliveries before 39 weeks to justify that they were done out of medical necessity.